PROFILE: Okada, well-versed in policy matters, is known for stubbornness

TOKYO, Sept. 5 Kyodo -
Katsuya Okada, who is expected to become foreign minister in the Cabinet led by
Democratic Party of Japan chief Yukio Hatoyama, the prime minister in waiting,
is well-versed in policy matters and is seen as sticking to his principles in
mapping out policies.
Although Okada lost to Hatoyama in a party leadership election in May, he
gained support from junior party members, establishing the position as a
front-runner to succeed Hatoyama in the future.
The 56-year-old secretary general of the DPJ was first elected to parliament in
February 1990 as a member of the Liberal Democratic Party, but left the party
in June 1993 and joined DPJ heavyweight Ichiro Ozawa for the establishment of a
breakaway party Shinseito.
Okada, a native of Mie Prefecture, is now serving his seventh term as a House
of Representatives member from the prefecture's No. 3 constituency.
Okada became DPJ leader in May 2004 but resigned in September 2005 following a
major general-election defeat by the LDP led by then Prime Minister Junichiro
Koizumi.
Okada, a former trade ministry bureaucrat, is a son of Takuya Okada, founder of
supermarket chain Jusco Co. and honorary chairman of Aeon Co., a holding
company which has the supermarket chain under its wing.
Okada, who once studied at Harvard University, has a sweet tooth, rarely drinks
alcoholic beverages and is fond of collecting items depicting frogs.
On the DPJ's policy toward China, Okada told a symposium commemorating the 60th
anniversary of the nation's founding earlier this month that the party has
placed importance on China and will deepen the stance after taking power.
As for the stance toward the United States, Okada confirmed with U.S.
Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Michele Flournoy in June in Tokyo to
maintain a strong alliance between Japan and the United States.
==Kyodo